Peak Performances in Perry’s COLORED GIRLS
up the ante for Oscar potential

Multi-layered drama has shades of excellence throughout

An Oscar winner (Whoopi Goldberg), two TONY winners (Anika Noni Rose and Phylicia Rashad), along with a veritable dream cast bring a regal vibrancy to Tyler Perry’s film adaptation, “For Colored Girls,” based on the multiple award-winning play from Ntozake Shange.

In 1974, Shange’s choreopoem “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf” made its stage debut, combining poetry, dance and music, and most significantly, placing the black female experience center stage.  In lyrical, honest, angry, funny and tender language, Shange’s “colored girls” evoked the feelings woven into the fabric of black female life in America. Within two years, the play became a Broadway sensation, won an Obie and Tony Award, and would eventually be produced in regional theaters throughout the country. 

Now, 36 years later, Perry has integrated the vivid language of Shange’s poems into a contemporary narrative that explores what it means to be a woman of color, any color.

“For Colored Girls” binds together the stories of nine different women: Jo (Janet Jackson), Tangie (Thandie Newton), Crystal (Kimberly Elise), Gilda (Rashad), Kelly (Kerry Washington), Juanita (Loretta Devine), Yasmine (Rose), Nyla (Tessa Thompson) and Alice (Goldberg). 

Crises, heartbreaks and crimes will ultimately bring these nine women fully into the same path where they will find commonality and understanding.  Each will speak her truth as never before and each will know that she is complete as a human being, glorious and divine in all her colors.

Additional cast members include: Richard Lawson, Omari Hardwick, Michael Ealy, Hill Harper, Macy Gray and Khalil Kain.

I spoke to TONY winner Phylicia Rashad, twice: once to discuss “Colored Girls” and another to discuss her enduring adoration among fans the world over. 

Sandra Varner (Talk2SV): One of the essential elements of this film is your placement as the emotional anchor for the women in this cast.  It seems apparent that their characters would all set sail in disparate ways if they didn’t have a touchstone, an anchor to come back to; your character represents that security. Did it feel that way to you; did you approach this role it that way?

Rashad: No, I didn’t because that wasn’t the way we started out. We started out with this character as a very nosy person who would hoard things, but that got shifted, the hoarding part got shifted.  She remained very, very nosy and she was in everybody’s business; that’s how it started out. Actually, the first scene that I filmed was the scene in the street.

Talk2SV: With the babies?

Rashad: Yes, it was the first scene that I filmed and after that, Mr. Perry began to shift and change things.

Talk2SV: Back to you as the anchor for so many of the women in this cast, you also represent that gravitas for them and others in this industry.

Rashad: Isn’t that amazing?

Talk2SV: It is.  Do you own it?

Rashad: I don’t know what to do with that. I mean, I don’t think of myself that way. I admire all these women and look up to them so to hear them say this is… (she then speaks in a self-deprecating tone) OK, alright, well, if all of you are saying this, OK, I guess I’ll accept it.

Talk2SV: What I see from their esteem for you is appreciation of your skill set, yes, but with that assessment is the emotional yet stoic tenure that your character has in this film. We haven’t really seen you this way on film.  Those fortunate enough to see you on Broadway perhaps have.  For those who grew up loving you in “the Claire Huxtable way” now, to encounter this character, Gilda, is perhaps where this new appreciation has formed.  I’m curious to see if it will translate to viewing audiences.  When I mentioned that I would be sitting with you for this interview, people see you as “Claire,” the beautiful wife, mother and attorney on The Cosby Show.  Gilda is no way, no how, Claire.

Rashad: No, but Claire was beautiful, wasn’t she? And, I’m so grateful for that experience.  Gilda is beautiful too.

Talk2SV: She is and she is honest.  As I watched this performance, it is tragic yet triumphant.  Nonetheless, this portrayal is a reflection of how we, as women, often teeter on an emotional high wire of sorts which is not a comfortable place to be yet with age, time and the grace of God we learn that it is still a good place to be. For the women who will be unraveled by this portrayal, what would you say to them?  What words would you offer that beckons us to our core selves, to our center; to embrace this in-between place, love it and move on from it, because sometimes it hurts. 

Rashad: Yeah, always the question, ‘Am I the things that I have done, am I the things that have happened to me or am I more?’ It’s a lot; many things happen and they’re not always pleasant.  The mistake is to identify with those things --that is not a part of our beauty-- that’s something that has happened. Now, when we look to understand the truth of our being we find something so beautiful and so strong and so enduring, so transcendent and we realize this was never touched by anything at all and this is the truth of who we are.

Talk2SV: I agree.  Art for some has been said to be the platform that allows them to flourish, save their lives, give their lives new meaning, definition even.  But all too often, we want these films to be the solution for problems and circumstances.  Sometimes a heavy and undue burden is placed on the arts.  Do you think it is irresponsible in that way to expect ‘art’ to be a solution?

Rashad: Art is a reflection, now that is what ‘art’ is. I think Shakespeare spoke to it.  Art is the reflection of many things, not only of things that are representative but also of the creative mind that rends it so art is that which elevates life. A question was asked of me, ‘how did I respond to the Broadway production that I saw years ago?’  In retrospect, when I think of it, my initial reaction was, this [play] is off-putting, it’s so angry. Now, when I look at it, how interesting is it that a subject so uncomfortable and so “un-pretty” could be elevated through the beauty of poetry, through the magic of theatre, through the power of movement.

Talk2SV: So, in that way art does provide us with a solution, serving as a conduit of sorts.

Rashad: It touches, you know. I think that is the wonderful thing about some of the greatest plays I’ve ever been in.  I could say that about the August Wilson plays, he never identifies a villain, he doesn’t. If you look carefully at the way he presents his characters, he loves them all and he gives them all a full point of view. He allows the audience to decide and, in doing so, he allows us to look into human nature and make decisions for ourselves, not only about the play, but also about our own actions and our own thoughts.  I think that’s really the power of art.

Talk2SV: Is it naïve to ask you if in some way you were transformed through this project? I ask because of your tenure in the industry, your acting portfolio, your body of work.

Rashad: Well, I did feel different within myself as an artist, working on this film, making it on this level, and  with these women, many of whom have more film credits than I do.  So, there was something about that, that was beautiful and empowering in its own way.  Always, when there is the opportunity to use language that is empowering whether you’re speaking from your own thoughts or reading from a piece of paper, still, the sounds is coming through you.  It’s a wonderful experience to have that sound coming through you in that way.

Talk2SV: When did you first know that you had a relationship with language?

Rashad: Growing up as a young girl, in Houston, Texas, teachers recognized something in my speech very early on.  Often, I was selected to say the prayer or be the moderator or the narrator or the one to represent the school in the competitions, it was always like that. I think it has much to do with my mother, Vivian Ayers, who was a poet. I grew up with poetry, even though I didn’t understand it, it was there. I grew up with language. Then, if you add on to that, the great fortune of having had excellent English teachers throughout school who really instilled an appreciation for literature and poetry, they heightened that early appreciation, furthered and encouraged it, you know. That’s the way I grew up; now, I understand language in subtle ways:  language is so important, it is the basis of thought and thought is the basis of many things.

Talk2SV: When this film project wrapped and you had some private moments with Tyler (Perry), what did you talk about?

Rashad: Well, we talked about how he’s just beginning.  He acknowledged that people didn’t really know him.  People were looking at the films that he had written, directed, produced, and identified him with those films, not understanding his greater artistic trajectory, his aspirations and, that was true.  That is true of many people.  How would you know if you didn’t have the benefit of a conversation with him or if you were not part of his inner circle of friends?  How would you know what he really felt, you wouldn’t.

Talk2SV: Unfortunately, we make those assumptions about people that we’ve come to know through their work.

Rashad: …All the time.

Talk2SV:  The last time we last talked, the conversation centered on your role in “Just Wright” with Common and Queen Latifah.  I describe that movie as a sweet romantic comedy. How would you describe this movie and your role in it?

Rashad: I would describe it the same way. 

Talk2SV: In that role, you played the mother to the Common’s character...what were some of the things that you wanted to bring to your character? What chord did you want to strike between the two of you?

Rashad: Honesty, that’s what I want to do every time. I want to find the honesty in the relationship, otherwise it doesn’t have any meaning to anybody; doesn’t have any meaning for the actors and certainly not for the audience so it’s the honesty with which you approach and it is  the honest that you find. I wanted to be that mother who grew up with her son and who was supportive of him, engaged in supporting him in his career, but not overbearing. I wanted to be the mother who watched carefully and didn’t say everything she thought even though she saw it, but who wouldn’t allow him to be a man.

Read the full interview and more at www.Talk2SV.com.  Up next, Phylicia Rashad to Direct “Raisin in the Sun,” at the Ebony Repertory Theatre in Los Angeles.

Phylicia Rashad to Direct “Raisin in the Sun”

Ms. Rashad is set to make her Los Angeles directorial debut with its production of Lorraine Hansberry’s classic play A RAISIN IN THE SUN.  Ebony Repertory Theatre (ERT) is proud to return this groundbreaking play to Los Angeles for its first fully-staged production in over twenty years.  Preview performances begin on March 23, 2011, Nate Holden Performing Arts Center (4718 W. Washington Blvd.) in Los Angeles. 

 “Ebony Repertory Theatre is deeply honored to have the inimitable Phylicia Rashad make her Los Angeles directorial debut with our production of A Raisin In The Sun,” said Wren T. Brown, Ebony Repertory Theatre, Founder / Producer.  He added, “Our late Co-Founder and Artistic Director, the brilliant Israel Hicks, would be exceedingly proud of our choice of director for this production. Israel often spoke of his immense respect for Ms. Rashad's abundant artistry and her uncommon grace. Needless to say, we are tremendously excited about the opportunity to work with this great lady of the theater."  

Rashad  is a critically-acclaimed and award-winning actor whose Broadway credits include:  August Osage County, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, A Raisin in the Sun (2004 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play, Drama Desk Award), Jelly’s Last Jam, Into the Woods, Dreamgirls, The Wizand Ain’t Supposed To Die A Natural Death.

A RAISIN IN THE SUN originally opened on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in 1959 and starred Sidney Poitier (Walter Lee Younger), Ruby Dee (Ruth Younger), Diana Sands (Beneatha Younger) and Claudia McNeil (Lena Younger).  In 2004, the Broadway revival production opened at the Royale Theatre and starred Sean Combs (Walter Lee Younger), Audra McDonald (Ruth Younger) and Phylicia Rashad (Lena Younger).

Ebony Repertory Theatre is the resident company and operator of the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center, which is located at 4718 West Washington Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90016.  A RAISIN IN THE SUN plays March 23 – April 17, 2011.  The performance schedule is Thursday and Friday at 8:00 p.m., Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. and Sunday at 3:00 p.m., www.ebonyrep.org.